Three-Dimensional Preview of Design of Laser-Finished Garments

Abstract

A tool allows a user to create new designs for apparel and preview these designs in three dimensions before manufacture. Software and lasers are used in finishing apparel to produce a desired wear pattern or other design. Based on a laser input file with a pattern, a laser will burn the pattern onto apparel. With the tool, the user will be able to create, make changes, and view images of a design, in real time, before burning by a laser. Input to the tool includes fabric template images, laser input files, and damage input. The tool allows adding of tinting and adjusting of intensity and bright point. The user can also move, rotate, scale, and warp the image input.

The invention claimed is: 
     
         1 . A method comprising:
 providing a design tool that allows previewing on a computer screen of a jeans garment customized by the user with a finishing pattern created using a laser input file by a laser, wherein a preview image generated by the design tool is a three-dimensional preview image of the jeans garment after a postlaser wash, simulated to have a photorealistic appearance when worn by a person, and is rotatable in three dimensions to be viewed from an angle selected by the user, and   the design tool comprises   providing an option for the user to select a jeans garment base and upon the user's selection, showing a first garment preview image on the computer screen comprising a jeans base image for the selected garment base,   providing an option for the user to select a wear pattern, wherein a wear pattern is associated with a laser input file to be used by a laser to produce that wear pattern onto a jeans garment,   after the wear pattern is selected, showing a second garment preview image on the computer screen comprising the selected wear pattern in combination with the jeans base image, wherein the second garment preview image replaces the first garment preview image.   
     
     
         2 . The method of  claim 1  comprising:
 in the second garment preview image, allowing the user to select the wear pattern and modify a sizing of the wear pattern relative to the jeans base image, wherein as the user makes changes, the modified sizing of the wear pattern is displayed to the user in real time, and 
 showing a third garment preview image on the computer screen comprising the jeans base image and selected wear pattern with modified sizing. 
 
     
     
         3 . The method of  claim 2  comprising:
 providing a target pair of jeans corresponding to the jeans garment base selected by the user; and 
 sending a laser input file associated with the third garment preview image comprising the selected wear pattern with modified sizing to a laser that will create a finishing pattern on an outer surface of the target jeans. 
 
     
     
         4 . The method of  claim 1  comprising:
 in the second garment preview image, allowing the user to select the wear pattern and modify a position of the wear pattern relative to the jeans base image, wherein as the user makes changes, the modified positioning of the wear pattern is displayed to the user in real time, and 
 showing a third garment preview image on the computer screen comprising the jeans base image and selected wear pattern with modified positioning. 
 
     
     
         5 . The method of  claim 4  comprising:
 providing a target pair of jeans corresponding to the jeans garment base selected by the user; and 
 sending a laser input file associated with the third garment preview image comprising the selected wear pattern with modified positioning to a laser that will create a finishing pattern on an outer surface of the target jeans. 
 
     
     
         6 . The method of  claim 1  wherein a method of manufacturing the target pair of jeans comprises:
 assembling the target jeans from fabric panels of a woven first material comprising a warp comprising indigo ring-dyed cotton yarn, wherein the fabric panels are sewn together using thread. 
 
     
     
         7 . The method of  claim 6  wherein based on the laser input file, the laser removes selected amounts of material from the surface of a material of the target jeans at different pixel locations of the garment, and
 for lighter pixel locations of the finishing pattern, a greater amount of the indigo ring-dyed cotton warp yarn is removed, while for darker pixel locations of the finishing pattern, a lesser amount of the indigo ring-dyed cotton warp yarn is removed. 
 
     
     
         8 . A method comprising:
 providing a design tool that allows previewing on a computer screen of a garment customized by the user with a finishing pattern created using a laser input file by a laser, wherein a preview image generated by the design tool is a photorealistic three-dimensional preview image of the garment after a postlaser wash, and is rotatable in three dimensions to be viewed from an angle selected by the user, and   the design tool comprises   providing an option for the user to select a garment base and upon the user's selection, showing a first garment preview image on the computer screen comprising a base image for the selected garment base,   providing an option for the user to select a finishing pattern, wherein the finishing pattern is associated with a laser input file, and   after the finishing pattern is selected, showing a second garment preview image on the computer screen comprising the selected finishing pattern in combination with the base image, wherein the second garment preview image replaces the first garment preview image.   
     
     
         9 . The method of  claim 8  comprising:
 via the second garment preview image, allowing the user to select the pattern and alter a sizing of the pattern relative to the base image, wherein as the user makes changes, the altered sizing of the pattern is displayed to the user in real time, 
 showing a third garment preview image on the computer screen comprising the base image and selected pattern with altered sizing. 
 
     
     
         10 . The method of  claim 8  comprising:
 via the second garment preview image, allowing the user to select the pattern and alter a position of the pattern relative to the base image, wherein as the user makes changes, the altered positioning of the pattern is displayed to the user in real time, and 
 showing a third garment preview image on the computer screen comprising the base image and selected pattern with altered positioning. 
 
     
     
         11 . The method of  claim 8  comprising:
 based on the second garment preview image comprising the selected pattern, causing a laser to create a finishing pattern on an outer surface of a garment template that is represented in the second garment preview image. 
 
     
     
         12 . The method of  claim 11  wherein based on the laser input file associated with the pattern used in the second garment preview image, the laser removes selected amounts of material from the surface of the garment template at different pixel locations, and
 for lighter pixel locations of the finishing pattern, a greater amount of the dyed cotton warp yarn is removed, while for darker pixel locations of the finishing pattern, a lesser amount of the dyed cotton warp yarn is removed. 
 
     
     
         13 . The method of  claim 11  wherein a finishing pattern based on the second garment preview image can extend across portions of the garment template where two or more fabric panels are joined together by thread by exposing these portions to the laser. 
     
     
         14 . The method of  claim 11  wherein for portions of the garment template exposed to the laser where the fabric panels are joined, the fabric panels are joined together using a thread comprising cotton. 
     
     
         15 . The method of  claim 11  wherein when causing the laser to create a finishing pattern, different laser levels are obtained by varying an output of the laser beam by altering a characteristic of the laser comprising at least one of a frequency, period, pulse width, power, duty cycle, or burning speed. 
     
     
         16 . The method of  claim 8  wherein the garment comprises at least one of a denim garment, pair of pants, pair of jeans, or a pair of denim jeans. 
     
     
         17 . The method of  claim 11  wherein the garment template is made of at least one of a twill material or a cotton twill material. 
     
     
         18 . The method of  claim 9  wherein the user can alter the sizing of the finishing pattern relative to the base image by way of an operation comprising at least one of rotating the finishing pattern relative to the base image, stretching one or more dimensions of the finishing pattern relative to the base image, shrinking one or more dimensions of the finishing relative to the base image, enlarging the finishing pattern relative to the base image, or compressing the finishing pattern relative to the base image. 
     
     
         19 . The method of  claim 8  wherein the finishing pattern comprises an inverse image of a laser input file. 
     
     
         20 . The method of  claim 8  comprising:
 providing an option for the user to select a tint; and 
 after the tint is selected, showing a third garment preview image on the computer screen comprising the tint in combination with the base image and selected finishing pattern. 
 
     
     
         21 . The method of  claim 8  comprising:
 providing an option for the user to select a damage; and 
 after the damage is selected, showing a third garment preview image on the computer screen comprising the damage in combination with the base image and selected finishing pattern. 
 
     
     
         22 . The method of  claim 21  comprising:
 in the third garment preview image, allowing the user to select the damage and alter a sizing of the damage relative to the base image and selected pattern, wherein as the user makes changes, the altered sizing of the damage is displayed to the user in real time; 
 showing a fourth garment preview image on the computer screen comprising the base image, selected finishing pattern, and the damage with altered sizing. 
 
     
     
         23 . The method of  claim 21  comprising:
 in the third garment preview image, allowing the user to select the damage and alter a position of the damage relative to the base image and selected finishing pattern, wherein as the user makes changes, the altered positioning of the damage is displayed to the user in real time; and 
 showing a fourth garment preview image on the computer screen comprising the base image, selected finishing pattern, and the damage with altered positioning. 
 
     
     
         24 . The method of  claim 22  wherein the user can alter the sizing of the damage relative to the base image and selected finishing pattern by way of an operation comprising at least one of rotating the damage relative to the base image, stretching one or more dimensions of the damage relative to the base image, shrinking one or more dimensions of the damage relative to the base image, enlarging the damage relative to the base image, or compressing the damage relative to the base image.